Cooking pizza involves a lot of heat (high temperatures) to attain that crispy finish on the crust and evenly cooked toppings.
So this post is about the best pizza oven thermometer you can get for cooking and what you need to keep in mind before getting one.
To make the crust on your pizza crispy, you need to cook it at high temperatures.
The high heat brings out the moisture from the crust and cooks the outer part to be crispy.
Using the right tools, the high temperature can make the entire wood-fired pizza oven hot enough to cook the toppings with radiant heat.
That is why you need a good thermometer to know it.
Pizza ovens are usually get to high temperatures to cook pizzas, unlike home ovens that are slightly lower than what is required to make Neapolitan pizzas. Usually, they do have their thermometers.
There are, however, other pizza ovens that lack this very simple accessory so you will need to purchase a separate one.
So we will see which one you should choose in case you are buying.
We will also be looking at the different types of thermometers available and see which one will help you the most as we answer the different questions asked about them.
How Does Pizza Thermometer Work?
Usually, pizza oven thermometers measure the average temperature inside the cooking chamber.
They tell you if the oven is ready to cook and for how long you should cook.
There are many types of pizza thermometers and for the built-in ones, they are the same.
They pierce through the walls of the pizza oven to read the internal temperature of the oven.
The reader will usually be on top of the pizza oven, the side, or oven door.
The thermometer extends to the interior to read the temperature in the air inside the oven.
Other thermometers used when cooking pizzas use lasers.
All you need to do is point the thermometer to the area you want to read and then display the temperature.
With a press of a button, you will know the temperature almost instantly.
The laser used is visible to know exactly which part of the pizza oven you are measuring.
What Kind Of Thermometer Do You Use For A Pizza Oven?
There are many different types of thermometers that you can use when you cook in a pizza oven.
Infrared, laser and many other thermometers work well with pizza ovens.
One thing you should know is that you are measuring the air temperature inside the pizza oven.
That means that it is not only one surface of the pizza oven that you need to measure.
Laser thermometers are good but they do not usually measure the temperature of the air.
Infrared thermometers are also good at measuring radiant heat but not air temperature.
So if you are looking for a thermometer for your pizza oven, make sure that you get a thermometer that will help you measure the reflecting heat that the pizza oven produces.
Measuring the temperature inside the oven usually means that you need to know if the air inside the oven is hot enough to cook the pizzas. For the pizza stone, a laser thermometer will do.
How Do You Measure The Temperature Of A Pizza Oven?
There are many spots where you can measure the temperature of the pizza oven.
You can use a laser thermometer or even see if the pizza oven is hot enough without even using a thermometer.
If you have a thermometer, all you need to do is shoot the laser into the oven. Many spots will help determine if the pizza oven is hot enough to cook your favorite pizzas.
You can measure the temperature on the dome face as it will have the heat radiating off of it.
That means that it is the temperature that is usually reflected onto the food to cook it.
The floor is also to see if it is hot enough to make the pizza crust crispy.
You can also do this with a laser thermometer and see if the reflecting material is hot enough for cooking.
Perhaps the best way to measure the temperature inside the pizza oven is to measure the air temperature inside it.
This determines whether or not there is even heat inside the oven.
If you do not have a thermometer, there is easy to know if the pizza oven is hot enough.
Just put some flour on the pizza oven floor and then see if it burns or catches fire.
If the flour catches fire instantly or within 10 seconds, that means that the pizza oven is too hot and will burn the crust of your pizzas.
Make sure that you reduce the heat before cooking in it. There are also wood-fired pizza ovens like Ooni that have their own thermometers inside but not all wood-fired pizza ovens are like Ooni so you will need a separate purchase.
Infrared Pizza Oven Thermometer
Now, we begin with the types of thermometers for home use that you can get to measure the temperature inside the pizza oven.
There is the Infrared Pizza Oven Thermometer which is one of the common ones. There are common brands like Ooni and specific ones like the Fluke 62 max and Etekcity 1022d gun that you can find on Amazon.
Infrared pizza oven thermometers measure the temperature inside the pizza oven without getting too close to the super-hot surface of radiant heat from the pizza oven, perfect for home use with hot ovens.
Infrared pizza oven thermometers like the Ooni thermometer, Fluke 62 max, and Etekcity 1022d gun are great for measuring surface temperature and can be easily bought on Amazon.
You can use it to make sure that the pizza oven will be hot enough to cook the crust of the pizza and the toppings.
What Is An Infrared Thermometer?
An infrared thermometer is also called a gun thermometer just like the Fluke 62 max and Etekcity 1022d gun.
A laser thermometer might also be one of the names given as it uses a laser to measure the temperature of wood-fired pizza ovens or other types of pizza ovens at a distance.
It has a very complicated system but to put it simply, it uses the laser to arrive at the surface you would want to measure the temperature of. It then uses detectors and infrared.
The infrared radiation is measured and recorded by the detectors.
The infrared thermal radiation that the lens measures is then brought back into the thermometer and is read by it.
There are detectors inside the thermometer that convert infrared thermal radiation into electrical signals.
These electric signals are then measured and displayed as the temperature of the surface.
How To Use Infrared Thermometer
An infrared thermometer for home use like the Fluke 62 max and Etekcity 1022d gun is very easy as you just need to point it to the surface you want to measure.
Press the button and it will instantly read the temperature of that area.
Most of these thermometers come with lasers for the user to see where the infrared thermometer is pointed.
That way, you will see if the pizza stone, walls, and floors are hot enough.
These are very safe and reliable when it comes to measuring the temperature of a surface.
You do not need to go too near the pizza oven to avoid burning yourself from the heat.
The problem with this type of thermometer is that they do not read the air temperature.
When it comes to cooking pizza, the air temperature is extremely important for a great even finish.
The best use for infrared thermometers is to determine whether or not your pizza stones or pizza steels have cold and hot spots.
Infrared thermometers for home use can also be used for grills.
In the early years, large, heavy brick ovens made for cooking pizzas do not usually have thermometers.
So if you have one, you can use an infrared thermometer for it.
The Best Infrared Pizza Oven Thermometer?
My favorite during the past years has been the Fluke 59 thermometer as the company has a great reputation for making good thermometers. That includes this thermometer that you can buy on Amazon.
That is until they made an even more advanced infrared thermometer with the Fluke 62 Max.
It is an advanced infrared thermometer that is also very durable, perfect for hot temperatures.
The FLuke 62 Max is made with a durable look that is both dust and water-resistant.
That means that you can leave it outdoors or beside the grill and it will not degrade or get damaged.
It is also made with tough material but is hard enough to withstand up to 3 feet falls.
This infrared thermometer can read the temperature in just 500 milliseconds.
This infrared thermometer uses two lasers that automatically shut off after 10 minutes of inactivity to save battery life. It also has features like a belt clip, a large backlit display, and more.
Pizza Oven Thermometer Probe
If you want to know the temperature inside the pizza oven and not just the surface temperature of the pizza stone or walls, then you should get a long probe thermometer for pizza ovens,
The long probe thermometer measures the actual radiant heat inside the pizza oven.
These are the types of thermometers that you usually use to build into the pizza ovens themselves.
You would usually see them on the door of the pizza oven or the walls.
They measure the temperature that comes from radiation when the walls and the oven floor reflect the fire.
Usually, it is mounted on the door since it is far from the fire.
Do not place a long probe thermometer right on the fire as it will give you wrong measurements as it reads radiant heat.
The Best Pizza Oven Probe Thermometer
When choosing the long probe thermometer that you would use when cooking pizzas, you need to consider many factors. The most important is accuracy and the range of temperatures it can measure.
For this, I prefer the Cooper-Atkins 2225-20 Stainless Steel Bi-Metals Industrial Flange Mounted Thermometer. This is a small but great thermometer that can give you accurate temperatures.
It can measure temperatures as low as 200 degrees Fahrenheit, so you can use it for your pizza oven and use it with smokers that usually measure lower temperatures.
==> Check out this Probe Thermometer
This thermometer can also read temperatures of up to 1000 degrees Fahrenheit. At this temperature, your pizza cooks within 90 seconds with a crispy crust and evenly cooked toppings.
You can install it in your pizza oven so you can choose the area where you think the average temperature is. This will help you a lot in cooking perfect pizzas and even other recipes in your pizza oven.
How Do I Check The Temperature Of My Electric Oven?
Electric ovens usually have built-in thermometers, so there is no need for you to measure the temperature.
However, if you do not have that on your electric oven, then use a thermometer.
Usually, electric ovens produce radiant heat, which is more likely that the oven’s interior is evenly heated.
That is why you need to read the radiant heat inside it.
The best type of thermometer for this is a probe thermometer to give you the right temperature of the air inside the electric oven. Just place the thermometer inside the oven before you preheat it.
If you want to measure the temperature of the racks or if you are trying to sear something, you can use an infrared thermometer for that.
How Do I Check The Temperature Of A Wood Oven?
Wood-fired pizza ovens get up to a lot of heat to cook the food you want.
There are many thermometers that you can use and like electric ovens, some have built-in thermometers.
If your wood oven does not have a thermometer, you should use probe thermometers to measure the air temperature inside it and make sure that the heat distributes evenly.
It is also important to measure the cooking floor or surface of the wood oven to ensure that the area where you will cook the food is evenly heated and there are no cold spots.
When measuring the temperature of the floor or the cooking surface, make sure to use an infrared thermometer to get an accurate reading.
How To Bake Pizza Using Thermometers?
Making pizza is very simple once you master the basics of cooking it.
First, you need to make sure that you have a thermometer ready to know the temperature of the pizza oven you use.
Fire up your pizza oven and then let it preheat for at least 15 minutes.
Only then can you read the temperature of the pizza oven as it will have distributed the heat throughout the interior.
Use the thermometer to read the temperature and see if the temperature has reached at least 900 degrees Fahrenheit. This is the temperature that you need to cook authentic pizzas.
At 900 degrees, you will be able to cook your pizzas perfectly in just 90 seconds.
Make sure to use the thermometer to see if the pizza oven has maintained its temperature.
If not, you will need to add fuel accordingly or adjust the temperature depending on the design of your pizza oven. Cook the pizza until the crust is golden brown and it is crispy.
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